Nauvoo House, Nauvoo, Illinois

Joseph Smith received a revelation on January 19, 1841 instructing the Saints to construct a boarding house named the Nauvoo House to “be a delightful habitation for man, and a resting-place for the weary traveler, that he may contemplate the glory of Zion.”¹

Shortly thereafter, the Nauvoo House Association was created on February 23, 1841 to help oversee the construction of the building. Less than six months later, the cornerstone of the Nauvoo House was laid and many items were deposited into it including the original manuscript copy of the Book of Mormon.² However, construction was halted in 1844 to devote more attention to building the Nauvoo Temple. Construction was attempted again in 1845, but was halted due to persecution of the Saints in Nauvoo.

After the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, their bodies were secretly buried in cellar of the uncompleted Nauvoo House to protect the bodies from falling into the hands of the mob. They were later moved to a resting place near the Mansion House.³

With the death of the Prophet, the title of the Nauvoo House passed to Emma Smith. In the 1870s, after Emma married Lewis Bidamon, the unfinished portion of the house was used to construct the Riverside Mansion. Bidamon uncovered the cornerstone and removed the contents including the original manuscript which had suffered extensive damage. Much of the manuscript was thereafter acquired by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.⁴ The Riverside Mansion served as the home where both Bidamon and Emma lived until their deaths.

In 1909 the property was acquired by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, now Community of Christ. On March 5, 2024 it was announced that the Nauvoo House was purchased from Community of Christ by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This historic announcement was made in a joint statement by both faiths. Included in the landmark agreement were the Kirtland Temple and other historic buildings, sites, documents and artifacts.

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SOURCES

¹ Doctrine & Covenants 124:60.

² “The Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon,” Improvement Era, Vol. 3, No. 1, November 1899.

³ Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols., introduction and notes by B. H. Roberts (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932-1951), 6: 628.

⁴ Dean C. Jessee, “The Original Book of Mormon Manuscript,” BYU Studies, (Spring 1970), 277.

Map & Directions

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The Nauvoo House is located in Nauvoo at the extreme southern end of Main Street near the bank of the Mississippi River.

Ownership Status

As of March 2024 the Nauvoo House is owned and maintained by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The structure is not presently open for public tours.

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